I'm interested in swapping my 69 SS350 Convertible from a PG to a TH 350. After a little research I see it appears to be rather easy and the results in performance would be obvious. My concern is however that I've been told that the 69's with the PG's are extremely rare. Does anyone know this to be true? I'd hate to modify my car if the original configuration is rare to begin with. Any input would be much appreciated.

I have an SS350 pace car that also came originally with a column shifter, powerglide and a 10 bolt. Not sure if you car originally had a column shift but I am almost positive that all SS cars with the powerglide did have a 10 bolt. I know of one other guy that has an SS as well that has a powerglide/10 bolt setup. Like you, I wanted a 3 speed automatic. What I did was install a TH350 and took my powerglide and all of the linkages and stored them away for later on. That way, IF I ever sell my car (I would have to be dead broke at this point) I have the original tranny. But the car is for me. So I installed the 3 speed and it is much better driving than the powerglide. So, change it if you want to and just save the tranny. Most importantly, do to your car that will make you the happiest. The heck with what the next owner wants.

I've got the numbers for the car. I read quite a bit on the site about decoding, most of it I understood, however the X11 portion got pretty confusing. Here's what I've got....

VIN 124679N639355

Cowl Tag:

ST 69 12467 NOR310713 BDYTR 713 50A PNT05A X11D80

It appears the car was built the first week of May if I understand this correctly. The only thing I could not decode was the paint portion listed as 50A. I know the 50 signifies Dover White, but I can't figure out the meaning of the 'A'. Also, this car was mildly restored prior to me owning it. I know many people add things such as the blacked out rear panel, cowl induction hood, different stripes, etc. I'd like to know, if possible, if my car is correct. Currently it has a blacked out rear panel, cowl induction hood, black z/28 style stripes on top of the car rather than the hockey stick stripes on the side.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'd like to get it back to original when I do the body over. So far all of you out there have been extremely helpful, this is a great site!! Some day when I get better educated about these cars maybe I can help someone out. My specialty up until this purchase has been Amphicars.

Thanks for the definition on the A and B convertible top codes. I couldn't decipher it because the car currently has a black top. When I replace it I'll go white. Keep me posted on the single leaf versus multi leaf situation with the Power Glide cars. As I mentioned earlier my build date appears to be May. Is this amongst the time period where you all are short on info on these cars? If so, let me know what other questions you may have and I'll try to answer them.

Here are the numbers I found. I was told when I bought the car that the engine was not numbers matching. Here are the engine numbers, there were two sets found below the aternator on the passenger side of the engine, I'm not sure what it could be out of:

15N570573VO or VD 211CMU, I couldn't tell if it was an 'O' or a 'D'.

Tranny numbers:

C8A18D found on the pan. I think this decodes to Powerglide, 1968, January 18th, dayshift?

8Y156780 or 790, not sure if it was an '8' or a '9'. Not sure how to decode these.

Rear axle numbers:

BP 0410G1 found on the front passenger side of the axle shaft. All I could get out of these was April 10th, not sure what BP means or G1?

C39 found on the back left side of the meatball, upside down, in about the '10 O'Clock' position. This numbers seems to indicate March 3rd, 1969?

This car has a singleleaf suspension, it appears to be original as I just relaced everything it was an incredible task removing the old leafs and hardware. I also discovered while I was under there that this car was originally a column shift car, which makes sense since your research shows that there were no floor shift PG's in 1969, correct?

In any case, any help you can give me is incredibly helpful, I really do appreciate it as I'd like to get this car back to a close to original as possible.